CARBERY RANGERS 1-13
CLONAKILTY 0-18
GER McCARTHY REPORTS
CLONAKILTY earned local bragging rights following victory away to Carbery Rangers in the opening round of the 2026 McCarthy Insurance Group Division 1 Football League at Rosscarbery on Sunday.
Utilising the elements in the opening half, the 2025 Division 1 runners-up built an 0-11 to 0-6 interval lead. Rangers fought back and there was a point in it when the visitors embarked on an unanswered four-point scoring spree.
Trailing 0-17 to 0-12, a Barry Kerr goal and a Darragh Hayes point left the bare minimum between the sides with time almost up. Dara Ó Sé finished as the game’s top scorer and fired over the insurance score to get Clonakilty up and running in this year’s top division.
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Clonakilty's Ross Mannix is brought down by Carbery Rangers' Brian Hodnett and Cian Daly. (Photo: Paddy Feen)
‘The league is great, you get to blood fellas and you want to be in Division 1 as that’s where the top teams are,’ Clonakilty coach Eoin Ryan commented.
‘You’ll find out a lot about fellas when they’re up against the best players and that’s what you need.
‘To be fair, it was the first game of the year and Rosscarbery is a tough place to come. We are trying to build a bigger panel. The two points are important for us even though I thought we were sluggish enough starting off. Then we got going and I was happy enough after that.’
Carbery Rangers, newly promoted from Division 2, gave a fine account of themselves, with staying up in Division 1 new manager Robbie Ahern’s first priority.
‘There were plenty of positives there,’ Ahern said.
‘Conditions dictated a game of two halves where Clon handled the second half fairly well. Matches like this are going to stand to us and we just have to make sure we are here again next year.’
A forgettable opening quarter saw Carbery lead 0-2 to 0-1 before the scoring floodgates opened. Clonakilty moved 0-5 to 0-4 ahead courtesy of Sean White, Fergal Murphy and a Dara Ó Sé two-pointer.
Peadar O’Rourke and John O’Brien responded prior to Sean McEvoy, Des Kenneally and Ó Sé efforts making it 0-8 to 0-4. Paul Hodnett landed consecutive frees before McEvoy and Dara Ó Sé’s two-point free made it 0-11 to 0-6 at half-time.
Clonakilty's Dan Peet defending against Carbery Rangers' Conor Twomey. (Photo: Paddy Feen)
The hosts had the wind in the second period, with Hodnett and Darragh Hayes efforts leaving a goal between the sides. In between, Mark White produced a superb diving stop to deny Hayes a goal. Clon responded positively to that scare as Ross Mannix scored to make it 0-12 to 0-8.
Carbery Rangers enjoyed a good spell with Peadar O’Rourke and Hayes points reducing the deficit. Ross Mannix replied, but a second three-up infringement of the game was punished by Paul Hodnett’s two-point free after 46 minutes.
Carbery Rangers' manager Robbie Ahern. (Photo: Paddy Feen)
A point up, Clonakilty upped the tempo as Sean McEvoy (2), Dara Ó Sé and Sean White added four unanswered white flags. Trailing 0-17 to 0-12, Rangers demonstrated admirable grit as Barry Kerr netted a cracker and Darragh Hayes raised a white flag. A nervy injury-time period saw Clonakilty retain possession and work a match-clinching Ó Sé score to win by two.
Scorers
Carbery Rangers: P Hodnett 0-6 (3f, 2ptf); D Hayes 0-3; B Kerr 1-0; J O’Brien, P O’Rourke 0-2 each.
Clonakilty: D Ó Sé 0-7 (2pt, 2ptf); S McEvoy 0-4; D Kenneally, R Mannix, S White 0-2 each; F Murphy 0-1.
Carbery Rangers: P Shanahan; P Óg Hill, J O’Riordan, C Daly; J Kevane, J O’Rourke (captain), B Hodnett; B Kerr, K Scannell; J O’Brien, P Hodnett, C Santry; P O’Rourke, C Twomey, D Hayes.
Subs: S Lenihan for J Kevane (36), J Hodnett for J O’Brien (42, inj), M Hodnett for K Scannell (53), C Hayes for C Santry (58).
Clonakilty: M White (captain); D Darragh, D Peet, D O’Sullivan; J O’Mahony, T Clancy, S White; B Ridgeway, C Ryan; D Ó Sé, A Cullinane; F Murphy, R Mannix, S McEvoy.
Subs: K O’Driscoll for C Ryan (42), J Campbell for F Murphy (42), B White for D Kenneally (55).
Referee: Alan Long (Argideen Rangers).
